Tuesday, May 17, 2011

The average computer user works for several hours a day on the computer. He creates, edits, saves and deletes files and programs all the time. Like any machine, the computer too needs a little sprucing up from time to time. Here are a few simple tips that will help your PC speed up despite the heavy load of work.

First of all, it is important to keep the hard disk clean, as much as possible, that is. Make sure that there aren’t any redundant or useless files that you do not require. For shared computers having multiple profiles, this problem can become a serious one. There are also chances of the existence of duplicate files or data. Once every few months, take a day to browse through all the drives and make sure that there are no such useless or duplicate files.

Secondly, for PC speed up, it is important to get rid of temporary or history files. For this purpose, the Disk cleanup, the built-in utility of Windows, will be a great help. It can be accessed by typing cleanmgr.exe in the Run box from the start menu and then hitting Enter. The utility will first scan the computer (i.e. the drives) for any errors. This may actually take a while, and it is generally advised to not do anything else on the computer during this scanning period. After the scan is over, the utility can get rid of the history and temporary internet folders, recently used documents lists, unused desktop icons, recycle bin contents etc. It will also take care of the drives one by one and remove all redundant files, but only after asking for confirmation. Make sure no important files get deleted by un-ticking those which you want to keep.

Another reason why the computer slows down is having a large number of drives. It is always better to have just a few, preferably, drives. Close on its heels is the issue of virtual memory. If the space allotted to the virtual memory is too small, then the computer will perform slowly. So for PC speed up, right click on the My Computer icon. Then follow this path: System Properties > Advanced > Performance > Settings > Advanced > Virtual memory. Increase the allotment of virtual memory if the space is too low.

Similarly, it is important to increase the space allotment for Windows page file for a PC speed up. If the Windows page file memory size is too small, then the processor speed will become slow and hence the computer’s.

The computer can also become slow because of the infection of malware like viruses, spyware and adware. So for a PC speed up, it is necessary to have a good anti-virus cum anti-spyware software installed. This software can be found on the internet for free, but for best results, it is best to buy one of them to get frequent updates and the full range of features.

As a computer technician for 8 years in my experience it may also pay to look at applications hidden within the task bar as these slow computer performance considerably.

Applications running within the task bar allow faster access when needed however they are not always required, and will slow down your computer performance if these applications are not disabled or switched off (Running in task bar).

You will need to have Administrator access to disable the programs running in your task bar. Applications such as MSN Messenger and Vuze are examples that do not have to be running at all times. These programs can be started when needed by accessing the programs executable file.

Thanks for sharing this effective stuffs. This surely counts. One thing I know that slows down computer access is because of Internet access, temporary Internet files take the most amount of space because the browser caches each page you visit. And this usually happens when I am browsing my computer and using the internet.

Virus is one of the most common reason why computer breaks down, slows down and performs least, that is why it is important as what you have said to have a proper computer maintenance and have an anti-virus that works well. These considerations will help the users to triple the productivity of their computers.